Owner and Operator of R_Bistro, Chef Regina Mehallick. This Q&A is for a Sunday On the Plate feature. (Frank Espich/The Star) / Frank Espich/The Indianapolis Star

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Chef Regina Mehallick: Having fun with fresh produce in the studio with chef Regina Mehallick.

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After nearly a dozen years as chef/owner at R bistro, Regina Mehallick has become a local food icon, the standard-bearer of fresh, local and seasonal. Her restaurant has been an anchor for the renaissance of Massachusetts Avenue, she’s been a James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Best Chef/Great Lakes region for the past four years, and has proved wrong the naysayers who thought she’d never last.

But what’s next for the 59-year-old chef? Over the course of two interviews, one after last year’s Beard announcement and another after this year’s, Indy’s seasonal-food sweetheart talked about her circuitous path to the kitchen, white tablecloths and turning down “Top Chef.”

Question: This is your fourth straight year as a James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Best Chef/Great Lakes region. Does pressure to make the list — or to move on to being a finalist — build every year?

Answer: The pressure does not build because I think what I’m doing is just consistent. I’m not striving to get that James Beard nomination. I’m not chasing it. I’m not competitive. I am well respected in the community in Indianapolis. I can manage my business well, I’m creative, and I have a really good support system from my staff. I couldn’t do it without Erin (Kem). And she is recognized throughout the city as well.

Q: Does the recognition help?

A: I think it makes a difference. Because of the James Beard recognition, I get out-of-town guests. It broadens your career path. You get more backing maybe, more support. You’re just recognized nationally. The fact that I have a cookbook also is a positive that would raise awareness as well.

Q: “Top Chef” has been after you for a while. You got a call after the Super Bowl last year and were contacted again when the 2012 semifinalist list came out. Did you turn them down?

A: Yep. I’m just not competitive. It’s just not me. It’s not something I want to do. I don’t want to leave here and do something like that for a month or whatever it takes. I don’t have to prove anything. We prove something every week with a new menu that tastes good.

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Q: You managed medical offices for years before attending culinary school. Did you always enjoy cooking?

A: When I moved into my first apartment, my friend took me to the grocery store, and I said, “What do I buy?” And she said, “Whatever you want to eat.” But I didn’t know how to cook. The first thing I made was probably spaghetti and meatballs, because that’s something my mom made. Then I got married and we entertained. We had parties, and we belonged to a gourmet club.

Q: When did you decide to attend culinary school?

A: All the time prior to that, I was taking adult continuing-ed classes, cooking classes. I took all those classes, and then we were moving to Charleston, and (my husband) Jim said, “Hey, there’s a cooking school here. You may want to go.” I ended up going to Johnson and Wales. And I started working in small restaurants, always independents. I did that when we moved to the U.K., in Scotland and northern England. Then we moved in 2000 to here. Jim was working at Cummins and we wanted to live in Indy.

Q: What was the Indianapolis restaurant scene like then?

A: There were no small restaurants. I just couldn’t figure out what I was going to do. Somebody said there were some restaurants on the Northside, and that must have been Peter’s and Something Different. We moved in January, my birthday is Feb. 13, and we went to the Canterbury. I thought, “This is nice. This would be O.K.” So I ended up working at the Canterbury — as a salad girl, basically. I worked there for about 10 months.

Q: But you always intended to open your own place. How’d you end up on Mass Ave?

A: I found this space after an art gallery walk. I was looking around where we lived (on the Southside) but it was all strip malls, and I didn’t want to be in a white box. We came to this gallery walk, and one of the girls was talking about the space. So we peeked in, and I met the landlord. … We figured it out. That was in October 2000, and I opened in May of 2001.

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Q: You’re at the end of Massachusetts Avenue, and there were no other shops or restaurants when you opened nearby a dozen years ago. What was the appeal?

A: I wanted something small that I could keep control of. I liked this shape. I’m still really happy with the shape of it and the way it looks. It’s very urban looking.

Q: You’ve become known for your focus on local, seasonal ingredients. How have things changed?

A: In the last three or four years, I’ve been able to get some seasonal product that is locally grown all through the winter. That’s a change. When Ross (Farris) was providing produce, I’d see him for the last batch of apples in November, and I wouldn’t see him again till April when he’d be calling about asparagus.

Q: What style of restaurant were you going for?

A: I think that when I first started and called it a bistro, I wanted it to be casual but with fine-dining service. And when I started, there were fine dining restaurants. There was Something Different and Peter’s. Those were the white tablecloths, and I didn’t want to be that. The food is of that level, but I wanted it to be a little more casual atmosphere. I’m sure there are people who think, “Oh, they don’t have white tablecloths, so the food can’t be that great.”

Q: Do you still like the fact that your menu changes every week? Or do you wish you’d never started that?

A: I think that sets us apart, definitely. I don’t know many chefs that do that. Greg (Hardesty) changes daily. Micah (Frank) changes every couple of weeks. Bluebeard changes.

Q: Did it take customers awhile to understand that the dish they loved last week wouldn’t be available the next time they were in?

A: At the beginning, I think it did. I do have people who have been coming several years, and when I do have shrimp and grits on the menu, (for example) they always come in.

Q: Do you ever want to switch things up, do another type of food?

A: Since I change the menu every week, I don’t know what I’d change to. If there’s something I’m really interested in doing, then we’ll just do it. When I first started, I thought we’d never do pizza. But we do a pizza every once in a while. I remember thinking only boys got to do the big grilling stuff. You usually hear of guys doing it. That’s why we’ve done pigs and lamb and sheep and goats. We wanted to do it, so I just bought (the equipment). We can do it any time we want now.

Q: What about opening another restaurant?

A: I wouldn’t mind doing something additional, but I’m creeping up there in age. What I’m trying to do is not work as much. If I do anything else, I don’t want to go too far away geographically. It would have to be right around here. But let’s just leave that unanswered right now.